Atlantic Puffin landing

Originally uploaded by victorcerutti

Another fantastic photo by victorcerutti on flickr. Poetry in motion. This is a puffin landing…they are pretty fast and this photographer captured the motion very well.

Wet Atlantic Puffin

Originally uploaded by victorcerutti

What a great photo. It shows the bill after mating season when it is not as colorful and it shows the puffin when it is wet. A very natural and wonderful photograph.

Tufted Puffins are not found in the UK or possibly the whole of Europe. So imagine the surprise of the British people who saw one off the coast on September 16th at the Oare Marshes reserve in the Swale Estuary near Faversham about 1 1/2 hours east of London.

This little bird, the clown-of-the-sea, is definitely far from home in a place very different from the natural habitat of puffins which consists of rocky sea cliffs at the Oare Marshes. His unexpected appearance begs the question, how did the find his way to the UK?

It seems the sighting of the Tufted Puffin is as exciting for the British as it is for us puffin lovers—inspiring people to travel from hours away to see it for the first time in a place it never visits. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for people in the UK.

It reminds me how lucky I am to be living in a state where the Tufted Puffin feels at home, Washington State. But for how much longer? With global warming, natural predators and a lack of funds to really help protect them? I cringe at the thought of losing the Tufted Puffin and revel in the mishap chance of a wayward Tufted Puffin finding its way to the coast of the UK. Maybe he fancied a spot of tea. Maybe he was simply lost at sea.

M Wright (Photo)

Whatever brought the Tufted Puffin to the UK pales in comparison to the joy he will bring to the bird lovers who will visit him while he is there. We should all enjoy the Tufted Puffin while we can—near or far from its home—with its long, fuzzy eyebrows and quirky little walk before he moves on to a different place…due to climate change or worse due to neglect, habitat loss or natural predators.

Talking to the Zookeepers pays off!! Next time you visit a zoo—say hello and don’t be afraid to ask questions!

Tufted puffin couple at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, WA

Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium currently has 20 tufted puffins in its exhibit, 9 males and 11 females. The tufted puffins range in age from 1 to 31. They currently have the oldest living puffin in captivity at 31 years of age!! He is only 3 years younger than me! =) Not only is he the oldest living puffin in captivity but tufted puffins are thought to only be capable of producing and raising chicks until their mid-twenties but this 31-year-old tufted puffin is a proud papa this year! The Pt. Defiance Zoo and Aquarium also has the oldest living female in captivity at 27 years old. And if all this isn’t enough to make you get excited they also have 3 tufted puffin pairs that they believe are raising chicks this year. I wrote ‘they believe’ because the zookeepers try to let the tufted puffins raise the chicks as naturally as possible so the zookeepers do not check on their progress. They wait and are surprised by the little ones in the exhibit. How fun is that?!?

This is one of the tufted puffin mothers who had a chick this year

The youngest tufted puffin chick at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium as of August 2009!

The Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium is currently in the middle of some intensive training with their puffins as well. In the past year they have been training them to eat from the zookeepers’ hands so that they can better deliver any vitamins and medications the puffins may need. The training has been extremely successful so far. Part of this training for the last 6 months included working on scale training the puffins (training the puffins to step on a scale in order to get more frequent weights) instead of having to catch the puffins and hold them to get their weight. Catching them is extremely stressful for the puffins and so the the new weighing techniques has been very effective for both the zookeepers and the puffins. The Pt. Defiance Zoo now has weights on all birds except for about 4.

It is amazing what some hard work can produce! These quirky adorable little birds are definitely smarter than the zookeepers realized. I, for one, am looking forward to discovering more about the little pufflings and the progress of the training at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium!

For more information on the puffin exhibit (within the Rocky Shores exhibit) at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium—you can visit them online at their official website or in person at:

Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium
5400 N Pearl St # D Ruston, WA 98407-3296
(253) 591-5337

What are the hours and days of operation to see the puffins at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium? The zoo is open from 9:30-6:00 until September 7. After that the zoo is open from 9:30-5:00. The birds can be viewed any time during those hours, their exhibit is never closed.

When are the best times to go to see the puffins at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium if you have questions?
They feed their puffins 3 times a day during breeding season, twice a day during non-breeding season. As of right now, they are fed at approximately 8:00, 12:00-1:00, and 3:00-3:30. They will discontinue the last feeding during non-breeding season. This isn’t really definitive, but there is not a set schedule to when they feed their animals but this is a good guess. I will update you when I find out more…

Horned Puffin

Originally uploaded by ConstantineD

Another fantastic horned puffin photo from Constantine D. Definitely worth seeing up close.

Horned Puffin (Fratercula corniculata)

Originally uploaded by ConstantineD

The Horned Puffin (Fratercula corniculata) is an auk, similar in appearance to the Atlantic Puffin; this bird’s bill is yellow at the base and red at the tip. It is a pelagic seabird that feeds primarily by diving for fish. It nests in colonies, often with other auks.

The yellow bill plate grows before the breeding season and is shed later. They have a small fleshy black “horn” above their eyes. They have a white face with a dark line extending from the back of the eye and red feet.

This species breeds on rocky islands off the coasts of Siberia, Alaska and British Columbia, in burrows, in rocky cavities or among rocks. It winters far out to sea. Feeding areas are usually located fairly far offshore from the nest. There is usually one chick and both parents feed the young.

Horned Puffins will return from hunting with several small fish in their beaks. They also eat squid and crustaceans.

The population of these birds has declined due to the introduction of rats onto some islands used for nesting.

Tufted Puffin (Fratercula cirrhata)

Originally uploaded by ConstantineD

Another fabulous photo of a Tufted Puffin by ConstantineD on flickr.

Photo by David Cheskin

A puffin at the Seabird Centre’s SOS Puffin project, a conservation project to reinstate puffins on Craigleith Island, near Edinburgh. Photo: David Cheskin

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Double Header – Puffin Guardians

Originally uploaded by idg

These are so cute! The photograph was worth sharing. Thanks to idg on Flickr. =) I also happened upon this great website because of this photo — the website is managed by Magdalen Green and someone named Iain. It is all about puffins. We can appreciate that can’t we?

The site is worth a read. It has some great photos as well both to look at and to purchase. =)

Thanks Magdalen and Iain for sharing your love of puffins with the world!

After my find yesterday in the University of Washington archives—I did a search for more old puffin photographs. I found some! YAY! =) I love history and puffins and puffin history.

A Tufted Puffin guarding its egg at Three Arch Rocks while Finley and Bohlman capture the shot during a 1903 photography trip to the area.¹

Tufted Puffin at Three Arch Rocks -- 1903

Close up shot of a Tufted puffin at Three Arch Rocks, 1903. Hand painted glass slide by Finley and Bohlman.²

Close up shot of a Tufted puffin at Three Arch Rocks, 1903. Hand painted glass slide by Finley and Bohlman.

A hand painted glass slide of Tufted Puffins at Three Arch Rocks in 1903 by Finley and Bohlman.

((http://digitalrepository.fws.gov/u?/nctcdiglib,744))

A hand painted glass slide of Tufted Puffins at Three Arch Rocks in 1903 by Finley and Bohlman.

A hand painted glass slide of a tufted puffin taken by Finley and Bohlman at Three Arch Rocks during a 1903 vist. Three Arch Rocks would later become the west coast first bird refuge in 1907.³

A hand painted glass slide of a tufted puffin taken by Finley and Bohlman at Three Arch Rocks during a 1903 vist. Three Arch Rocks would later become the west coast first bird refuge in 1907.

A hand painted glass slide of a tufted puffin taken by Finley and Bohlman at Three Arch Rocks during a 1903 vist. Three Arch Rocks would later become the west coast first bird refuge in 1907. Under the Model Bird Law Finley was able to end sea bird shooting parties to the area in 1904.⁴

Tufted Puffin 1903 Finley and Bohlman b

A Tufted puffin guarding its egg at Three Arch Rocks, 1903. A hand painted glass slide by Finley and Bohlman. Thier photographs of Three Arch Rocks in 1903 would later help the area become a bird refuge in 1907.⁵

A Tufted puffin guarding its egg at Three Arch Rocks, 1903. A hand painted glass slide by Finley and Bohlman. Thier photographs of Three Arch Rocks in 1903 would later help the area become a bird refuge in 1907.

1. http://digitalrepository.fws.gov/u?/nctcdiglib,829 [↩]
2. http://digitalrepository.fws.gov/u?/nctcdiglib,742 [↩]
3. http://digitalrepository.fws.gov/u?/nctcdiglib,745 [↩]
4. http://digitalrepository.fws.gov/u?/nctcdiglib,746 [↩]
5. http://digitalrepository.fws.gov/u?/nctcdiglib,743 [↩]